Google wins a game of “Escape from East Texas,” linking Rockstar to Apple

A federal judge issued an order today decreeing that Google's court battle against a "patent troll" owned by its competitors must be fought out in California, not in Texas.

The ruling is a substantial victory for Google because venue matters in patent litigation. The search giant was facing the possibility of fighting a powerful trolling entity in the Eastern District of Texas, long considered a district friendly to patent holders. The patent owner in this case is the Rockstar Consortium, formed when Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Ericsson, and Blackberry teamed up to spend $4.5 billion to buy patents belonging to Nortel, a bankrupt Canadian telecom company.

US District Judge Claudia Wilken largely agreed with Google's points, using sharp language that suggests Rockstar won't have an easy time litigating this case. The first thing she did was dispense with the idea that Rockstar's co-plaintiff, Texas-based "MobileStar," should be treated as something separate and distinct from Rockstar.

"[T]he circumstances here strongly suggest that Rockstar formed MobileStar as a sham entity for the sole purpose of avoiding jurisdiction in all other fora except MobileStar’s state of incorporation (Delaware) and claimed principal place of business (Texas)," wrote Wilken. "A mere day before it initiated litigation against Google’s customers, Rockstar freshly minted MobileStar, with no California contacts, and assigned the asserted patents to that subsidiary."

Wilken goes on to note that Apple, a Silicon Valley stalwart, is the majority shareholder of Rockstar. Apple paid $2.6 billion of the $4.5 billion purchase price of the patents, and "at least 1,147" of the approximately 2,000 patents purchased went to Apple. She continues:

Rockstar’s CEO Veschi stated that he does not talk to its shareholders about potential licensing partners or infringement suits, but admitted that he has to show them “progress and that real work is being done.” ... Veschi holds periodic calls and meetings with the owners, primarily with their intellectual property departments, and Veschi acknowledges that they “work well together.”

Wilken sees a "direct link" between Apple's business interest and Rockstar's litigation moves:

Google and Apple’s rivalry in the smartphone industry is well-documented. Apple’s founder stated that he viewed Android as a “rip off” of iPhone features and intended to “destroy” Android by launching a “thermonuclear war." Defendants' litigation strategy of suing Google customers is consistent with Apple's particular business interest... This 'scare the customer and run' tactic advances Apple’s interest in interfering with Google’s Android business.

Rockstar's senior management is based in Ontario, Canada, where Nortel was headquartered. It also has a small office in Plano, Texas, which is within the Eastern District of Texas.

Contacted by Ars, Google declined to comment on the ruling. According to Reuters, which first reported the story, Apple also declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Rockstar could not immediately be reached.